Good mood and energy today, even though I was in the gym a little later than usual but still 2 hours after my first meal. Felt good on OHP and the bar just kept moving. I was a little worried after last week's low strength at 145#, but I've restored my faith in my deltoids. Last December when I was doing 5/3/1 my best on OHP was 4@150#, nice improvement! I decided also that I'm going to do a 5/3/1 progression on weighted pullups instead of straight sets at bodyweight each time. Triceps pushdowns were easy. I wasn't sure how heavy to start them so I went pretty light. I will probably stick at 5x10@80# next week, then bump the weight next cycle.

Low energy today - wasn't feeling it. Pulled an upper back/neck muscle this morning and it's been bothering me all day. It drew some of my concentration away from the lifts, probably why I didn't hit more on the deadlift. Wasn't feeling really strong today. Grip felt like shit too. Can definitely up the weight on back raise, +10# was easy. Not sure I can go much heavier on hip thrusts, even with the heavy pad the bar is still crushing my pelvis.

Energy and mood were good today. I've relaxed my arch a little on the bench, as all the extreme arch seems to do is make it a little easier and shorten the ROM (my ass was always on the bench though). Once I hit 5x10 on the dips I'll start adding weight.

Felt OK going in, but on the heavy set of squats felt like shit. My depth was terrible; I didn't feel strong. Good morning and hanging leg raise superset was done to save a little time. My legs were dead after GHRs.

I decided that next week I'm going to start a modified Armstrong pullup program (4 days instead of 5 per week). I was previously doing weighted pullups on OHP days, but I'm going to run this for a couple months and see where it gets me. I'm trying to tailor my assistance to what I believe are weak spots. For one I think my pullups are shit, I also think my posterior chain could use some work which is why I've been hitting it twice a week. I think my bench is also a little weak, but my OHP is decent so I'm fine with the bench lagging a bit.

Felt OK going in. I've had a cramp in my left hamstring since last night. It's really tight and sore. Also had to lift really late today - too busy at work to take a regular lunch break so I went after work. Wanted to go for 6 heavy reps on OHP, but lost my focus in the middle of the set and it was hard enough to get 5. Needed a little bump on the 5th. Threw on a couple push presses for good measure though. Started the Armstrong pullup program. I'll run it at least until I can get 5 sets of 10.

Felt good going in today - was looking forward to some nice deadlifts even though my right hamstring is still cramped. It's gotten better since yesterday though. I was a bit unsure of how it would affect my deadlifts today, but I didn't notice it at all. I set my goal at 5 on the heavy set and hit it handily. The 3rd rep bounced on the floor, but the rest were let down properly. I felt like I had a little left in the tank, such that I might have been able to grind out a 6th rep (and suffered the consequence of a sore lower back for the next few days) but decided to leave it at 5. I tried to do leg raises but couldn't even get my legs up once, so decided to do knee raises instead. Cut the back raises way short. I wanted to get a little work on the hamstrings to loosen them up a little, but didn't want to really stress them at all.

I'm going to test my maxes in 2 months. 3rd week in August - 2 more cycles. Should be able to hit 190 strict OHP, 500 Deadlift, 270 Bench, and 395 Squat (may go for 400).

Got interrupted on my way to the gym, was delayed for half an hour and was pretty hungry during my workout. Still hit all the numbers I was hoping for. My ass was trying to leave the bench on the last heavy rep, but I held it there as the bar slowly crept to lockout. The pullups were a lot harder to complete than I though they should be, but my arms were a little worked after the DB rows. I didn't expect to finish 5x10 on the dips after that, but got pretty close.

I've been cutting my warmups a little short lately - less jump rope sets and pullup sets. Still doing the stretching every time and mobility work on leg days.

Pissed about the squats. I wanted to hit 5, but I also wanted to make sure they were all full depth. I was seeing stars after finishing the third rep, paused for a bit, went for 4 and couldn't bring it back up. Decided I was going to get 5 at that weight no matter what so I did a couple singles to parallel. I know I could have hit all 5 at parallel (or just below). My right hamstring is still super tight. Normally I can lay my palms on the top of my feet, but now the best I can get is my fingertips a couple inches above my toes. It's been almost a week now. I could feel it while I was squatting and I'm sure it threw off my game. I'm glad next week is a deload week. Hopefully by the start of Cycle 2 my hammy will be back in full working order.

All deadlifts done with hook grip, explosively, full pause on the floor between reps for speed. Reread the instructions for the pullups and realized that I was not taking the appropriate rest period last week. The rest for this workout is supposed to be 10 seconds PER rep done the previous set.

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